Corona Chronicles: Trip to Thailand

My first solo trip was to Thailand. It was a great feeling completing something on my bucket list. I wanted to go back and relive those times by cooking Thai food during my coronavirus quarantine.

While I was in Thailand I went to a cooking class. It was so much fun that after that I put cooking classes on my to-do list whenever I can when traveling. In this class we made tom yum soup, laab gai (Thai style chicken salad), pad thai, green curry chicken with homemade green curry paste, and mango with sticky rice. It was so much fun and so yummy. It was great seeing the difference in regional ingredients verse what I can find back home. One thing that was surprising to me was how quick it was to make these dishes that packed so much flavor.

I stumbled upon this cooking school on accident. I went to an entirely different school and showed up on the wrong day. I was so disappointed but before I started to panic I talked to the front desk of my hotel. They found me a class at Silom Thai Cooking School that evening. The teacher was friendly and explained everything well. My classmates were fun as well. I would recommend one of these classes to anyone traveling to Bangkok.

During quarantine I made green curry chicken and shrimp. My teacher in class explained how the traditional version of green curry is thickener and more reduced than the "soupy" version that we get in America. I still made mine the American way during quarantine. I guess it's just out of habit. I also made pineapple fried rice. If you've never tried pineapple fried rice it's so perfectly balanced. There's the sweetness from fresh pineapples and saltiness from the fish sauce. I made my fried rice with day old brown jasmine rice to add in more fiber and a nutty flavor.

If you were hosting a Thai dinner at home, you can add in some fresh fruits as dessert and spring rolls as an appetizer. You can buy the spring rolls frozen and reheat them. Take your time and cut your fruit nicely so that it makes for a great presentation. Your guests will feel the balmy nights of Thailand.